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Wealth distribution in Uruguay: capitalizing incomes in the dark

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  • Mauricio De Rosa

    (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economí­a)

Abstract

Wealth inequality is arguably one of the key drivers of overall economic distribution and of major importance in its own right. However, relatively little is known about it, particularly in the developing world. In this article, Uruguay's wealth distribution and composition in 2012 are estimated -for the first time-, based on the capitalization method. Wealth distribution estimations are mainly based on very detailed tax micro-data and own estimations of aggregate national wealth. Results show that at least one third of total wealth is owned by the wealthiest 1% and top 10%Žs share is almost 60%, whilst 35% is owned by the "middle 40". Financial wealth and business property in particular are heavily concentrated among the wealthiest 1%. Sensitivity tests are performed to assess the method's key assumptions, showing that main results are robust. Moreover, estimations are consistent with a novel household wealth survey and with real estate tax data.

Suggested Citation

  • Mauricio De Rosa, 2018. "Wealth distribution in Uruguay: capitalizing incomes in the dark," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 18-07, Instituto de Economía - IECON.
    • Handle: RePEc:ulr:wpaper:dt-07-18
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    File URL: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12008/19006
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Mauricio De Rosa, 2022. "Accumulation, inheritance and wealth distribution: first estimates of the untold half," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 22-07, Instituto de Economía - IECON.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Wealth distribution; capitalization method; tax records; developing coun- tries; Uruguay;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • E01 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General - - - Measurement and Data on National Income and Product Accounts and Wealth; Environmental Accounts
    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity

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